Poppy’s eyes met his, the for the first time that evening, but for the first time this up close and personal. The difference was staggering. His chest constricted as he gazed down into her aqua irises, golden flecks swimming in rivers of clear blue-green waters.
Her cheeks flushed as the edges of her full lips curled. “I haven’t had the pleasure.”
The word“pleasure”lit up not only his frontal lobe, which interpreted language and regulated emotions, decision-making, and impulse control, but also registered in his brainstem, which controlled essential involuntary functions for survival, causing his heart rate to speed and his blood pressure to rise.
AJ did his best to mask his internal response as he grinned back at Poppy. “Nice to meet you.”
“So, here’s the drill, we need a few shots.” Tessa lifted her camera and examined the settings as she asked, “What’s your comfort level?”
Both AJ and Poppy just stared at Tessa, then glanced back at one another.
“We can do just standing side by side, something goofy, some dancing, or we can go all-in and have AJ seated, Poppy on your lap, and recreate the classic pose. Whatever you guys feel comfortable with.”
AJ hesitated, unsure if this was a scripted bit or if he was meant to actually have an opinion. His brain scrambled to produce the correct social protocol but came up empty. He waited, which was his default setting when he was uncertain how to proceed.
As soon as he paused, Poppy looked up at him, and he saw the twinkle in her eyes. He knew they would be seated for the photo, and his wish of getting closer to her would be coming true.
“I don’t mind a little Santa Claus role-play,” Poppy teased in open flirtation.
AJ grinned, surprised at how easy it felt to just “be” in her presence, even in a room filled with people with loud music and lights and smells of food, she had a calming effect on him. It was easy. Peaceful. Two things that most of AJ’s life were not.
“Great.” Tessa motioned to her assistant, and a chair was carried onto the dance floor and strategically placed in the center.
“A throne for the Garter King,” Tessa declared.
AJ lowered down, adjusting his suit jacket, folding his hands in his lap for lack of a better place to put them. Poppy crossed to him, her hips swaying left to right, the light scent of peonies wrapped around him as she sank onto his lap. She didn’t just sit on his thigh, she settled in, one arm draped behind his neck, the other balancing the bouquet on his knee.
His hand hovered at her waist for a brief moment before resting on her hip, careful but not tentative. The moment his fingers wrapped around her, he felt a tremor roll through her body. The contact sent a lightning bolt of sensation through his arms. She was warm, her weight a gentle, steady pressure, like the weighted blankets he used on sleepless nights to keep himself centered. She felt real, more real than anything else in the room. Not that anyone else in the room existed. They all disappeared, it was only her.
Tessa clicked the camera once, twice, changing angles. “Okay, that’s good. Now can we get a little closer? Maybe cheek to cheek?”
Poppy leaned in, her hair brushing his jaw, her skin soft and cool where it touched his. AJ instinctively turned his head, catching a whiff of her shampoo, something citrus and sharp, and felt himself slipping out of his body, the sensory overload teetering on the edge of bliss and chaos.
His eyes closed for a moment until he heard her whisper, “Is this where I tell you what Iwant?”
Her tone was low and seductive.
“Okay, look this way!” Tessa called out.
When he opened his eyes, Poppy leaned away from him as she turned her head towards the camera. As Tessa snapped photos, AJ moved in closer to Poppy. Her silky, satin-soft hair brushed against his cheek as his lips grazed the outer rim of her ear, and he whispered, “Remember, I know if you’ve been naughty or nice.”
“Smile!” Tessa snapped the photos as AJ felt and heard Poppy’s silent gasp and felt another tremor rush through her.
He’d waited all night to speak to her and had been frustrated at himself for it not happening sooner, but now…now he knew that it couldn’t have happened before because this was always how it was supposed to be, how they were supposed to meet. He felt like his entire life had been leading to this moment. His life would forever be categorized as before this moment, and after.
8
Holy shit.Poppy was trying to stay calm, cool, and collected but she was freaking out. Not only was AJ hotter than Hades and to say she was wildly attracted to him was the understatement of the century, no, millennium—but he had banter, too!
She’d observed AJ that evening, watching how he interacted with people. She saw that AJ treated everyone the same, with kindness and respect, from his relatives to the mayor, the surgeons who were Dr. Sterling’s guests and thought very highly of themselves to the wait staff.
And word on the street was AJ didn’t lie, ever. It was either his Achilles heel or superpower, depending on who was talking. It seemed that he’d hurt quite a few people’s feelings by being too honest or blunt, but she was here for it.
A piece of advice she’d gotten from someone once was that you can’t haveeverythingyou want in a partner, so decide what five non-negotiable core attributes you need and then donotsettle. Poppy couldn’t count the number of guys she’d dated that had a score of three out of five of her NNs.
She knew it might be shallow, but at the top of her list was someone who was hot that she was attracted to. They didn’t haveto be traditionally good-looking, that was different than being hot. Hot was more about sex appeal, and AJ had that in spades. And as far as being attracted to him, she was on the verge of climaxing just sitting on his lap. In fact, she was afraid when she stood up it would look like she’d had an accident because hearing him say that he knew if she was naughty or nice had just made her wet.
The other four NNs were funny, flirty, kind, and honest. He had all of those, and he smelled delicious. Body odor was a big deal to her. She hadn’t included it in her Big Five, but if she could have had six, that would have been it. It was a runner-up with smart, hardworking, family-orientated, and responsible—qualities she knew he also possessed.
